


Bells And Kisses

by BradyGirl_12



Category: Public Enemies (2009)
Genre: Challenge Response, Challenges, Community: Guns_Fedoras Public Enemies Challenges, Established Relationship, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Male Slash, New Year's Eve, New Years, Romance, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 19:26:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/299231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BradyGirl_12/pseuds/BradyGirl_12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mel and Johnny reflect back on the old year and look forward to the new.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Bells And Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Original LJ Date Of Completion: November 21, 2010  
> Original LJ Date Of Posting: December 31, 2010  
> Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, Universal does, more’s the pity.  
> Original LJ Word Count: 1168  
> Feedback welcome and appreciated.  
> Written for my [2010 Guns_Fedoras Public Enemies Fic/Art Winter Holidays Challenge](http://community.livejournal.com/guns_fedoras/77745.html). Prompt: New Year’s Eve.

  


_The Old is fading,  
The New is waiting,  
When the Hour rings,  
Joy it brings._   


Mae Brown  
"American Scenes:  
Poetry For  
The 20th Century"  
1926 C.E.

Snow was falling softly outside the window of the modest hotel room. The clock tower chimed the quarter hour.

_One hour before midnight._

Mel sat in the chair by the window, wearing Johnny’s shirt. The cuffs were unfastened and the top two buttons were undone. He gazed out at the Chicago skyline, snow sparkling like stars.

He looked back at the bed, smiling at the sight of Johnny sprawled as he slept. Chestnut hair was tousled, a slight smile quirking his lips.

_Never in a million years would I have guessed that 1933 would have ended this way, with me hopelessly in love with the man I’m supposed to bring to justice._

Mel knew that he was living dangerously but why else had he left South Carolina to join the Bureau? He could have stayed back home in his father’s law firm with a productive but quiet career. Instead, he had wanted excitement.

_Well, I surely got it!_

Mel smiled happily. And the reason was lying in that bed: saucy, irritating, exciting, beguiling…Mel had been lost the first moment he’d laid eyes on John Dillinger in that Tucson jail.

Mel rose from the chair, drifting over to the bed. He gazed down at Johnny, appealingly sexy in sleep, the sheet half off, exposing his chest and part of his thigh. Mel smiled and lightly touched that warm thigh.

Johnny stirred as Mel was admiring the careless sprawl of his limbs. Even in sleep, Johnny was insouciant.

_Just the way I like him._

He started to unbutton his shirt when a hand touched his thigh.

“Mmm, lookin’ good, darlin’.”

Mel smiled as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and laid it on the nearby chair, climbing into bed, twining his limbs around Johnny. They tussled for a moment, laughing, then Mel settled into Johnny’s arms, pulling the sheet and blanket up to cover them.

“Everything okay?” Johnny asked.

“Fine. Just watching the snow fall.”

“Hmm.” Johnny looked out the window. “Right pretty.” He kissed the top of Mel’s head as the G-Man rested his head on his companion’s chest. “Thinkin’ deep thoughts?”

Mel smiled. Johnny knew him well. “Just thinking about the past year.” He shivered slightly.

“You’re chilled.” Johnny pulled up the blanket even higher. “Let’s get you all toasty.”

“Mmm.”

Johnny stroked his lover’s hair. “Pretty wild year, huh?”

“A bit.”

They both chuckled, then Johnny asked, “A good year, I hope?”

Mel could hear the hesitation in his lover’s voice. Smiling warmly, he said, “A very good year.” He could sense Johnny’s smile.

“Good. I’m glad.” Johnny kissed the top of Mel’s head.

They watched the snow falling in comfortable silence, then Johnny said, “Me, too.”

Mel smiled again.

More silence for a little while, then Mel spoke. “Bet neither one of us dreamed of this.”

Johnny chuckled. “No doubt about that.” He sighed happily. “You’ve sure changed my life, Sunshine.”

“For the better, I hope.”

“Oh, yeah.” Johnny smiled. “You’re one classy squeeze, sugar.”

Mel laughed. “Glad to hear it.”

Johnny’s tone grew serious. “You’ve got me thinkin’ about things.”

Mel kissed Johnny’s chest. “Like what?”

“Oh, ‘bout the future for one. Kinda fittin’ for New Year’s Eve, huh? But I’ve always been a ‘live now’ kinda guy. Figured if I survived prison, I wouldn’t last long out of it, not the world I live in.” He stroked Mel’s hair, watching the snow fall. “Now I think about the future.”

“Like how?”

“Oh, maybe like gettin’ out of this business, maybe leavin’ the country for someplace where my face isn’t on a wanted poster.”

Mel bit his lip. No Johnny in his life anymore? Well, they knew from the beginning that this couldn’t last, that they had to grab what happiness they could.

“Well, it’s good for you to get out of this crazy life.”

“You, too.”

“What?” Mel raised his head to look at his lover.

“Well, you think I’m goin’ to spend my ill-gotten gains by myself? I need my Southern honey to spend ‘em with me.”

“Well, I…”

“Darlin’, this is no life for you, either. Workin’ for a publicity hound like Hoover, who would throw you to the wolves to save his own skin, and the Feds can be just as ruthless as the people in my world. We don’t have the corner on the double-cross, y’know.”

Mel knew that Johnny was speaking the truth. He was becoming increasingly disturbed by the tactics being demanded of him in the manhunt for the man holding him in his arms.

“I’d like that, Johnny.”

The bank robber beamed. “Y’know, 1934 is gonna be a great year.”

“I think you’re right.”

A knock on the door sent Johnny scrambling out of bed and grabbing his robe off the back of a chair, shrugging it on.

“What?”

“Room service.”

Johnny was cautious as he opened the door, the hotel employee smiling and wheeling the cart in. Mel had disappeared into the bathroom.

The Negro waiter expertly set out the covered dishes on the table by the window, setting the silver bucket next to a dish. He smiled and thanked Johnny for a generous tip, setting the cart by the wall.

“Your dessert dishes are included, sir.”

Johnny nodded, and once the waiter left, called, “You can come out now, darlin’!”

Mel emerged from the bathroom in his robe, exclaiming, “Champagne! That’s so extravagant, Johnny.”

“So? How else am I gonna spend those ill-gotten gains?”

Mel chuckled and they sat at the table. Mel lifted the silver cover and took a deep breath appreciatively. “Mmm, smells wonderful.” He eyed the steak, peas, and baked potatoes hungrily.

Johnny spooned some Worcestershire sauce onto his steak, Mel doing the same. He placed a pat of butter on his potato, letting it melt.

They enjoyed their meal, Johnny popping the cork on the magnum of champagne and pouring it for both of them. The hiss of steam from the radiator was a welcome sound, the room warm as the snow continued to fall.

After the entrée was finished, Mel lifted the cover off one of the dishes and his eyes lit up. “Lemon cake!”

“Light as air, sugar, and just as sweet.” Johnny finished his glass of champagne. “Let’s take our cake to bed and eat it, too.”

Mel laughed, and handed Johnny his plate. They brought over silverware and champagne, setting everything on the nightstands and settling comfortably into bed.

“Mmm, this cake is delicious.” Mel enjoyed the airy confection.

“Hey, it’s almost midnight.” Johnny picked up his glass. “Who knows what the New Year will bring?”

“Who knows?”

The clock tower began to chime, joined by a melodious cacophony of church bells. “Bells and whistles,” Johnny winked. They clinked glasses. “To 1934,” said Johnny.

“To 1934,” echoed Mel.

They drank and then kissed as 1934 was welcomed in with bells and kisses.


End file.
